A Connection Charm
by AmayaMayaMi
Summary: 'Turning to face Ven, I beamed at him and asked. "So… where are we going first?" Soon enough, our adventure would begin.' 17-year-old, Akemi has lived on the Land of Departure for a year now but when her friend Terra leaves, Ventus and her go travelling worlds together to find him while Aqua's goes after them. What are the Unversed? OCs Included. Ventus/Ven x OC. (Birth by Sleep)
1. Under the same stars

**AN: Hey guys! This is gonna be my first KH fanfic and we have an OC main. I know you guys are probably groaning but, sorry! It can't be helped. By the way, said OC protagonist is only the protagonist for this story, it won't be the last time you see her, though!**

**EDIT: Flashback's been made less pointless and a little bit more relevant plus some implied Terra x Aqua (I ship them)!**

'Inset text here'** – OC's conscience speaking**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts but I do own a few games and Akemi (and her sister, later on). If I did own Kingdom Hearts, Akemi would be in the series and Kairi would suddenly disappear off the face of the earth. Akemi x Ven would be canon, because I'm an avid OC x Canon shipper. So, nope!**

**On with the story!**

* * *

_I stared up at the castle that stood before me. "So, this is the Land of Departure?" I asked myself, no one was around to hear me. Why not think out loud?_

_'Yes, this is indeed, the Land of Departure.' A voice said, catching me off guard._

_I jumped and swung my Keyblade, in defence. 'Who's there? Why are you here? How'd you even get here?'_

_The voice sighed. 'No! You idiotic dimwit! I am your conscience…'_

_'You are? Okay then, nice to meet you, conscience! I'm Akemi, call me Emi. Hey, that rhymes! I think…' I swayed side to side, out of boredom and started humming._

_'I already know who you are; I have been here since you were born.' Conscience said._

_I didn't reply instantly, I had to think about this 'cause, my very own conscience? I'm dreaming aren't I? Seconds later I did. 'Hey, if you're my conscience, you should've started talking years ago. I'm sixteen now!'_

_'No, you are not dreaming, my dear. And yes, I probably should have begun talking but then you would run up to your mother asking things such as 'Why are there voices in my head?' and then there is your curiosity of things like the Keyblade which people would say that you are just an insane little child or a child that imagines such absurd things.'_

_I rolled my eyes. 'Yo, conscience, knock it off with the fancy talk and formal talking, jeez. It ain't the time of the Keyblade War anymore nor is it normal to talk like that!'_

_'The Keyblade War? You were not even born then!' She shrieked, hurting my ears._

_I flinched. 'OW! That hurts you know, I have actual ears made of flesh unlike YOU! Obviously I wasn't born around the time of The Keyblade War. Mom said her great-grandparents were involved and I'm not gonna be bothered with specifics so I'm not telling you which grandparents. But she did tell me the stories she was told, not all of them were told to her though because most of her grandparents disappeared. God, I hope Mizuki doesn't have to hear this yet! Now if you'll excuse me, someone is waiting for me inside.' I thought calmly._

_'Mizuki is your younger sister, am I correct?' Conscience asked and I quietly nodded my head._

_Pushing the door slowly and carefully, I poked my head inside. "Hello!" I yelled, to check if anyone would be there. "Master Eraqus?!" My voice echoed through the room while pulled the door open wider and let myself in. I heard clashing from above, there are other people here?_

* * *

**Land of Departure**

I've been sitting around, doing absolutely nothing on my bed for about at least an hour now. Bored, bored… extremely bored! It's been a year since I left my homeworld and came here; it's also been a year since I met my conscience and I'm currently seventeen, still living on the Land of Departure. And I've also been wondering, how Mizuki's been doing for these past few months? I rested my elbows on the window sill and sighed, heavily. "Just the same old courtyard…" My eyes squinted. "Wait a sec…" I leaned in extra close; the window began fogging up from me breathing on it. I let out another heavy sigh and flopped back on my bed. "It's just a meteor shower, nothing interesting. I'll check it out in maybe, a million years' time…" I mumbled, reverting back to lazy mode and burying myself under the blankets again. It's currently night time, now how 'bout you give me some well-deserved sleep? No? You're so mean.

_'It's a terrible day to be you then, because…'_

'Because…?

_'Congratulations, you are now experiencing your weekly dose of insomnia.' _Conscience boredly cheered.

I rolled my eyes, not even slightly amused at all. Even after all these months, she's saying fancy words but at least there's no more formal talking. 'Hooray, now where's my prize?'

_'There is no prize.'_

'That was supposed to be something sarcastic…'

_'You're very horrible when it comes to sarcasm, did you know that?'_

'That you suck at being sarcastic because you are me? Yes, I do know that.' The sound of footsteps passed by my door, I rolled my eyes again, sighed and smiled, of course _he'd_ be excited for something like meteor showers. Even if he's fifteen, he still retains his young and childish innocence which makes him quite adorable, if I say so myself. I forced myself to get off of my bed, only to fail and roll myself off it. Landing with one, big THUD!

_'You're awfully lazy, tonight.'_

Once I pushed myself up, I walked towards the door and rubbed my eyes, beginning to say something irrelevant. 'Oh please, I have to put up with your constant chatter because I'm the only one who can hear you and it makes me tired because you won't stop talking at night!' My hand grasped the doorknob and with one swift pull, it flung open. I poked my head from behind it and saw a familiar head of blond hair disappear around the corner, my smile grew wider and I set off after him, leaving my door open behind where I stood.

* * *

I slid down the side of the outside stairs of the castle with the biggest mischievous grin I've ever had, spread across my face. Time to play the 'Let's go scare the hell out of _him_' game!

_'How did you receive your Keyblade?'_ Conscience suddenly asked.

'You were there when I got it!'

_'I forgot so, please…' _She paused then surprisingly shouted. _'Answer the damn question!'_

_'_Alright already, aren't you just the most patient conscience!' I thought sarcastically. 'What I can remember of it is pretty hazy, something about inheriting it from mom when she was a master. Oh yeah, here's a lovely fun fact. Mom's great-grandparents suddenly disappeared one day and they were Keyblade wielders, not sure if I should regret allowing mom to pass it down to me or not.'

_'On the bright side, at least you got a wonderful and powerful weapon. And, are you sure _they're_ not dead?'_

'Gee, thanks for the enlightening question. How am I supposed to know if they're dead or not?' Running over a small, white bridge, I realized where I was going. _He_ was whacking rings into oblivion with his Keyblade. 'What are the rings for anyway? Are they for training?' I pondered. I would've snuck around him but, there's nothing to hide behind besides those poles that the rings are dangling from. When he wasn't looking, I made a run for it and successfully got away without being noticed but, little did I know that he spotted me running by from the corner of his eye.

* * *

"I made it!" I placed my hand on a nearby wall for support since I couldn't keep my balance from being breathless. After catching my breath, I looked around for any sign of _him_. He still wasn't there. "Well… I did just past him..."

_'Speaking of a certain someone, he's a very good-looking boy.'_

My face grew hot. 'Great, don't remind me.'

_'Remind you of what?'_

'Well, the fact I have a crush on _him_ and secondly, you're my conscience! How can you forget that?'

'_You're blushing, how cute…' _Conscience said, sounding bored.

_'_Is there a secret trigger to making you shut up or at least to temporarily tune you out?' She stayed quiet. And before I could do something like, run wherever and find one of my designated hiding spots I found just to play this game, I felt a tap on my shoulder.

"Akemi?"

"Ah!" I jumped into the air as soon as I heard my name, startled. I knew who the voice belonged to and gritted my teeth. And I got caught… by _him, _this sucks! I spun around with my fist raised in the air. "Darn it, Ventus! Stop catching me before I get the chance to scare you!" My arms crossed, I glared.

Ven started laughing. "I already saw you back there."

"Yeah, whatever…" I pouted and puffed out my cheeks. I sighed and spoke up when he wouldn't calm down. "Ven, it's not that funny! So, calm down! Sheesh…" When he calmed down, Ven and I plopped onto the ground and gazed up at the stars above including the meteor shower. "Wow!" I said in awe. "I guess I was wrong for saying it wasn't interesting…"

Ven lay down on his back. "You thought that this wasn't interesting?"

"Uh-huh. Being wrong's become a bad habit of mine now, hasn't it?"

He nodded, and then stared back up at the sky, again. "Why does this seem so familiar?" Ven asked no one in particular.

I looked down at Ven, his eyes were closed and I giggled. "Someone's fallen asleep." Seconds became minutes and I felt someone tap my shoulder. Turning to face whoever was there, I found myself grinning at a familiar blue-haired woman…

…Aqua.

"Hey Aqua, Ven's uh... He's um…" I murmured and pointed at Ven to let her know that he was busy snoozing about. She smiled and opened her mouth to say something but before any words could come out, Ven began to stir from his sleep. Aqua was now standing above him; she placed a finger to her lips, signalling me to keep quiet… I nodded and decided to watch what would happen.

Ven opened his eyes and sat up to let out a yawn, then he was about to fall back to sleep when Aqua came into view. "WOAH!" He abruptly sat back up and yelped.

Aqua had startled him. I certainly can't blame him, though. Imagine lying down only for someone to all of a sudden pop out of nowhere! Still… It's hilarious as fu-

_'Tsk-tsk, mind your language, Akemi dear. From this instant, I will no longer be interrupting you anymore!'_ My conscience warned.

'It's not like I wanted you to interrupt me. I'm also old enough, am I not?'

_'You're a well-behaved lady, though; you can do much better than that!' _She continued on scolding me.

_'_Says the conscience of said well-behaved lady, me. And besides, you said 'damn' earlier!'

_'Saying 'damn' is less offensive then saying something such as the likes of that.'_

Aqua and I broke out into laughter.

"Gimme a break, Aqua!"

'You know, now that I think of it. Aqua is pretty much the older sister/mother figure towards Ven. I find it pretty adorable, what could I be to him?'

_'You're probably, the sillier older sister who secretly harbors feelings for him!'_ Conscience stated, calmly. I could imagine her drinking tea with her pinkie finger out and her legs crossed all lady-like now.

'Hey!'

_'You can't deny that it's true!'_

'Yeah but, you're making it sound like some… incestuous relationship.' I thought in disgust and cringed.

_'I didn't mean it like that! Goodness, what is in that mind of yours?'_

'Beats me, you're the conscience so you should know.'

_'I do not know, though.'_

'Thoughts, does that answer your question?'

"Yeah... I know." Ven said as he and Aqua walked to the cliff to sit down "Hey, Aqua. Y'ever wonder what stars are? Where light comes from?" He asked curiously.

'I wonder what got him to ask about light and stars.' I thought as I scooted back on my butt over to the seat behind them not having a care in the world for the state my clothes would end up in.

"Hmm... Well, they say-"Aqua began.

"-that every star up there is another world." A familiar man with brown hair and blue eyes finished as he walked up to us.

I looked up from the seat I was sitting on and smirked. "Well, aren't you late to the party?"

"Terra!" Aqua said.

"Yep, hard to believe there are so many worlds out there besides our own. The light is their hearts, and it's shining down on us like a million lanterns."

"Like a million lanterns?" I said in a tone full of curiosity.

"What? I don't get it." Ven said looking confused.

'Yeah, just what could that possibly mean? The light is their hearts…? Shining down on us like a million lanterns? Ugh, I give up!'

_'You don't think hard enough.' _

"You're too young to know now." Terra stated.

"Quit treating me like kid!" Ven whined.

"Oh boy, these two act like they could be brothers…" I murmured. Aqua had heard what I'd said and quietly chuckled to herself and whispered something back. Aqua and I simultaneously burst into fits of giggles.

"Hey, what are you two laughing at?"

"We can't help it. You two would make the weirdest brothers." Aqua answered, trying to stifle her laughter.

"Huh?" Ven and Terra briefly turned to look at each other and then broke out into laughter with us.

* * *

I was now sitting next to Aqua on the cliff; all four of us were now stargazing.

Aqua spoke up. "Oh yeah. Terra, you and I have our Mark of Mastery exams tomorrow. So… I made us good luck charms." She pulled out four, one orange, one green, one blue and an amber good luck charm. Aqua tossed one to each of us but kept the blue one, Terra got orange; Ven got the green one and the amber one to me.

"I get one too?" Ven asked after catching the green one.

"One for each of us." Aqua held hers out in the middle of our circle. Ven did the same, followed by Terra and I. We all looked back at the stars. "Somewhere out there, there's this tree with star-shaped fruit… and the fruit represents an unbreakable connection. So as long as you and your friends carry good luck charms shaped like it, nothing can ever drive you apart. You'll always find your way back to each other." She turned to us again, "Technically, I think you're supposed to make them with seashells, but I did the best with what I had."

I smiled, clutching it close to me and spinning around in a girlish way. "I love it! Thanks, Aqua." I stopped spinning, held the charm in front of me and stared. "Hey Aqua, I've got a question." She turned to me and I pointed at the amber charm. "What are they called?"

She smiled and told me. "They're called Wayfinders."

"Oy, sometimes you are such a girl." said Terra, teasingly.

"Hey, what do you mean, 'sometimes'?" Aqua asked, sounding slightly offended.

I smirked, gently nudging Terra by the elbow. "Word of advice, buddy, if you're planning on getting some tonight then don't go pissing your girlfriend off in any way, shape or form." Then I backed away, cracking up at the blushing Terra and Aqua, she was shyly twiddling her thumbs. "Yeah, I saw you two feeding each other MY chocolate cheesecake!" I dabbed at my eyes, starting fake cry. "And I was hoping to eat that cheesecake because I love chocolate."

Aqua shook her head and quickly changed the subject, asking. "Akemi, why aren't you doing the exam?"

"Well…" I scratched the back of my head. "I told Master Eraqus that I'd do the exam whenever Ven would be doing it. Plus, gotta let the lovely couple do the test to-ge-ther!" I chirped, making Terra and Aqua turn redder.

Ven had a frown on his face; his tone of voice matched the way his expression was. "So, this isn't a real good luck charm?" He asked, gaining our attention and changing the subject yet again.

"Well, that's yet to be seen. But I did work a little magic on it." Aqua told Ven, to lift up his spirits.

"Really? What?" Both I and Ven spoke in unison, eager to know what she'd say.

Aqua smiled and held her good luck charm towards the sky. "An unbreakable connection."

* * *

I yawned, we we're about to begin sparring. "What is up with me and insomnia? Suddenly I can't sleep and then the next moment, I feel tired. Like some kind of on-off thing."

_'This is why you shouldn't be having all-nighters every night, and then we wouldn't have this problem.'_

"Maybe you should go sleep; you did promise us that you'd be there tomorrow." Aqua said.

I yawned again. "Yeah, I guess you're right Aqua." Then I smiled. "I did promise, didn't I? Don't worry, I'll be there. You guys will pass, I'm sure of it!" I set off running but before I was out of earshot, I yelled out to the three of them. "Good luck!"

* * *

'_In hindsight, this would be the last night she ever spent with them altogether... under the same stars.'_

* * *

**AN: What do you think of this? It's not too bad to me. Anyways, continuing from the above AN, I'm doing a fanfic on every single game so far in the Kingdom Hearts series. The main character will be the same for most, except for this and whatever I'm doing for 358/2 Days. Depending on how the main OC is involved in the story, it could likely be a one-shot or something****. It could change but, I'll be writing every story in t****he ****series' chronological order (hence why I'm doing Birth by Sleep first).**

**See you next chapter!**


	2. Mark of Mastery

**AN: Hello again, everybody! Akemi's conscience gets a name, I really didn't want to keep going on and on with 'my conscience' or 'conscience' (her conscience will also be of some relevance to the future stories, so of course she'd need a name). Also, mentions of Akemi's parents near the end, not like it'll matter (trust me! They're not of any importance).**

**EDIT: Akemi does need her share of flashbacks, so here's a second one! (Connected to the first one.)**

**On with the story!**

* * *

_Master Eraqus and I had just had a talk about how I'd now be living here in this very castle I stood in on the Land of Departure, the fact I'd begin training to become a Keyblade Master which I've already known but he also told me to introduce myself and get to know the others. I hate to admit it but I still don't even know their names! So, the master's right, I really do need to get to know them more. It'd be embarrassing if the next day I went up to one of them and said, 'Hey person-who's-name-I-don't-know, good morning!'_

_'I recall that they were about to approach you until Master Eraqus came to talk to you.' Conscience said._

_I stared at the ground outside the castle, since I literally had nothing to do except breathe, so I decided to walk around even though I knew I'd eventually get lost. 'I know they did, Conscience but c'mon I still have no idea about what their names could be!' My head snapped up when I heard the door open, out came those three people I've been spending my time on pondering about. They walked up to me and I just blinked._

_'Well, are you going to say something?' Conscience asked._

_I shook my head, snapping myself out of my daze then nervously waved and smiled. "Uh… hi?" I said, nervously and awkwardly. My eyes shut tightly and I gulped. "My name's Akemi!" I quickly shouted, my head lowered strands of hair covering parts of my face then I quietly added. "Pleased to meet you…"_

_"My name's Terra." _

_I lifted my head up slowly to face the smiling taller, blue-eyed and brown-haired man standing in front of me._

_ "And I'm Aqua, nice to meet you too." The blue-haired woman with blue-eyes standing next to Terra said with a kind smile._

_"Terra, Aqua…" I said with a straight face which soon curved up into a smile, but then I looked at the shortest one of the trio, the one with blond hair and blue eyes. And then it felt awkward, being the only one with forest green-colored eyes..._

_The short, blond spoke up, causing me to snap out of my thoughts. "I'm Ventus, but call me Ven." He grinned._

_"Ven…" I said, softly. My mouth opened slightly, turning my smile into a grin. "Terra, Aqua, Ven. I hope we'll all get along and become great friends!" I chirped. 'Especially getting along with Ven, he's pretty… cute.'_

_'Have you developed a crush on Ventus?' Conscience asked. 'So similar to love at first sight…' She added, comparing it to what she said._

_'Hey, I just think he's cute! Remember whenever I saw a short guy that was around my age in Radiant Garden, I'd instantly think they're cute. And besides, there's nothing wrong with crushes, now is there?' I guess I was right about one thing though, that I'd become great friends with this trio._

* * *

**Land of Departure**

_'Akemi, wake up.' _A faint voice in my head said.

"Mm…" My groan was muffled by pillows.

_'Akemi…' _The voice said a second time, now clearer.

I turned my head so that my face wasn't sinking into a pile of cushions. "No, still tired... five more minutes…" My hand rose up, swatted at the air and fell back to its original position.

For the third time, said voice half-yelled this time. _'If you don't wake up you'll miss Aqua and Terra's Mark of Mastery exam, so get up now, please!'_

I promptly sat up, fumbling with the blankets and exclaimed. "WHAT! No way, I'm going to be so late!" I jumped out of bed and pulled off my pyjamas.

_'Good morning, Akemi. And as I've said before, you'll be late if you don't hurry.' _The voice turned out to be conscience.

'I'm hurrying as fast as I can!' I quickly slipped into my grey t-shirt, grey shorts, orange suspender skirt and my orange sleeveless jacket. What? Amber's my favourite color but I like orange too and grey looked good with it. 'Don't rush me; I'm trying hard. Plus, why didn't YOU wake me?'

_'I did but you were busy enjoying your slumber.'_

I dropped my white boot. 'Are you kidding me? I didn't hear you?'

_'You only have yourself to blame, maybe you should ask Aqua to wake you up, she's very responsible or of course, Ventus…'_

I picked up the boot and resumed pulling it on, attempting to shake away my blush. 'No thanks! Aqua will be a good choice!' I picked up my grey legwarmers, slipping both on and I grabbed my comb, hurriedly combing and accidentally pushing it into the tangled dark brown mess known as my own hair. 'Well, damn. It's stuck!' I quickly yanked hard at it; the comb flew out and to the other side of my room, nearly ripping my hair off. "OW!" I cried, rubbing my head and whimpered. "That hurt…"

_'You're being very frantic with getting ready, aren't you, Akemi?' _Conscience asked while I put on a white-colored hairband.

Grabbing my fingerless fishnet gloves, I hastily slip them on and as fast as a lightning bolt I was out the door, straightening my skirt and suspenders with one hand and my Amber Wayfinder bouncing around from the string in the other hand. 'This is entirely YOUR fault! And I don't even get to brush my teeth?!'

* * *

Still slightly exhausted from getting ready so quickly, I reluctantly stood at one side of the hall with Ven; this should've been a good thing but I HAD to be as red as a tomato! It was difficult to keep looking away because Ven would ask why every once in a while and I'd have to say something like, "Me? Blushing? Silly, silly Ventus, it's a normal habit for me to blush." Then he'd reply back with something along the lines of, "But I didn't ask why you were blushing." He'd repeat his question and I'd laugh calling myself silly for mishearing it and forget about it. I looked up and my forest green eyes came into contact with unusual yellow ones, it was Master Xehanort, my head quickly turned to Ven. He was staring back at Master Xehanort, the old master was staring too, what is this? A staring contest or something? Ven turned away, looked down at the floor under him and let out an inaudible sigh. I also looked down, letting my hair hide another blush, redder than before. From a gap in my hair, I spotted Ven abruptly straightening up and my head snapped up in turn.

Master Eraqus had just walked up to the two Keyblade Wielders standing before him. He studied Aqua and Terra closely and carefully, and then began to speak. "Today you will be examined for the Mark of Mastery. Not one but two of the Keyblade's chosen stand here as candidates, but this is neither a competition nor a battle for supremacy – not a test of wills, but a test of heart. Both of you may prevail or neither." Master Eraqus glanced at Master Xehanort and gestured towards him. "But I'm sure our guest; Master Xehanort… did not travel all this way to see our youngest prospects in years fall short of the Mark." He turned to face Terra and Aqua again. "I trust you are ready."

Both of them responded with a nod and a single "Yes."

The Master raised his Keyblade. "Then let the examination begin."

Five hovering orbs of light appeared from thin air via summoning, I guess. Terra and Aqua readied themselves in their usual fighting stance but then the peculiar thing so far today happened, the orbs surrounded by darkness and began moving on their own.

_'Don't accuse me of doing anything, I'm just a conscience!' _Conscience said, defensively.

'I know that, Mizake. I know that. And before you ask why, who cares if I'm naming you after a year!'

I eyed the orbs dumbfounded; everyone else was shocked well, except Master Xehanort for whatever reasons. Aqua and Terra charged at the orbs of light and took a few of them out in an instant. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw an orb fly towards Ven who was still standing beside me.

"Ven!" Terra, Aqua and I called out in unison.

I shut my eyelids tightly, the orb was too bright even if it was in darkness; I didn't want to risk being blinded. When I heard the sound of clashing and disappearing, I opened my eyes to see Ven talking to Aqua, Keyblade in hand. "Don't worry about me. You two focus on the exam!"

"But Ven you're in danger here!" Aqua said. "Go wait in your room."

_'I can see they don't worry too much about you.' _Mizake bluntly spoke.

'Like I said, I'm seventeen. SEVEN…TEEN! Plus, Ven's younger than me so of course they'd worry about the younger one. Just like me and… Mizuki…'

_'Pay attention, Akemi. You can think about your family later on after you've gotten rid of those orbs of light.'_

"No way! I've been looking forward to this - seeing you two become Masters. I'm not gonna miss it now!"

In a flash of white light, Luminous Aurora, my very own Keyblade appeared in my right hand. "Trust him, Aqua! He'll be fine!"

"He can take care of himself. Ven's been out there training just as hard as us." Terra added.

"Yeah!" Ven said.

"You two, stay sharp!" Aqua ordered.

* * *

I ran about taking down every single orb I could, continually hacking and slashing at them with my Keyblade until they disappeared while dodging the other orbs' blinding, somehow harmful beams. I would call out some spells every now and then. Everyone else attacked their own targets, sometimes attacking the same targets, no one got hurt at all and once the last one was taken care of, the Mark of Mastery exam was resumed.

* * *

Ven and I stood where we were again before havoc arose in the hall.

"That was unexpected… but one must keep a still heart even in the most trying of circumstances. It was an excellent test, one I chose to let unfold. This brings us to your next trial." Master Eraqus said as Aqua and Terra walked up to each other but kept a fair distance. "Now, Terra and Aqua, the two of you will face each other in combat. Now, remember, there are no winners-only truths, for when equal powers clash, their nature is revealed."

Both of them took to their fighting stance again.

"Begin." After that one word was said they ran at each other and continually parried the other's attacks. Aqua stepped back and swung her Keyblade forwards, just an inch away from Terra's face. Terra jumped back and as Aqua ran towards him, darkness now flowed out from his hand.

_'Is that… darkness flowing out from Terra's hand?'_

'Jeez, Terra, don't do that!' Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Master Xehanort smile evilly. 'That guy…' I eyed him suspiciously, what's he smiling 'bout?

_'Who?'_

'Nothing…' I smiled like it was nothing at all, but in reality, it really was something.

As soon as the battle ended, Terra and Aqua stood before Master Eraqus again, Master Xehanort behind him. "We have deliberated a decision. Terra, Aqua, you both performed commendably. However, only Aqua has shown the Mark of Mastery." Master Eraqus continued on while Master Xehanort walked away. "Terra, you failed to keep the darkness within you sufficiently in check. But, there is always next time. That is all. Aqua, as our newest Keyblade Master, you are entitled to certain knowledge. Please wait here for further instruction."

After Master Eraqus left, Aqua said to Terra. "Hey."

Ven and I ran to the two. "Terra, I'm sorry." Ven said.

I gave Terra a worried look, that old creep; Master Xehanort had something to do with it. I'm sure of it!

Terra asked himself. "The darkness… where did it come from?"

* * *

After a moment of silence,

"Sorry, but I need some time alone." Terra walked away.

I gazed in the direction that Terra had gone, oh boy.

* * *

I sat down on my bed, pulling my knees up to my chest and sighed heavily.

"If only Terra kept the darkness in check, I guess I wasn't right after all…"

_'What weren't you right about?'_

"Remember how I assured them that they'd both pass, I… was wrong."

_'Akemi, does it really matter if you're predictions aren't as accurate as your own mother's… it doesn't matter if you were wrong. It was a tiny mistake, nothing to fuss over.'_

"I know, but still…" I fell on my back and whined dramatically. "It means I lied! I'm such a terrible friend!"

_'Are you done, dear?' _Mizake asked and I nodded. _'Now tell me, what did you mean by 'that guy'?'_

A bell rang throughout the castle, I didn't feel like getting up and Mizake seemed desperate to know who I was talking about, that person being Master Xehanort.

'I was talking about Master Xehanort, at the same time the darkness flowed out of Terra… I saw him smile in an evil way. I'm getting suspicious, now.'

_'He does look quite evil, now that you mention it._'

'I know that, 'cause I'm the one who saw him do it.'

_'If you're done, we should get going and see what he wants. Unless you'd rather stay here…'_

I sat up and stared out the window, Terra stood outside. "Terra? Where's he going?" I slipped off my bed and ran out door, what's he doing outside?

* * *

Just as I'd made it to the courtyard, Terra had flown away on his Keyblade Glider and Ven stood there looking at the button on his armor, hesitantly. "Ven!" My voice had caught his attention, stopping him from doing whatever he was going to do. He turned his head to look at me and once I'd made it to him, I asked. "Where's Terra going?"

He just simply shrugged.

"Ven, don't tell me you plan on leaving like Terra?"

"But I have to find him!"

"Well then, tell me why you need to find him?" I placed my hands on my hips and gave him a look. A minute of explaining later which involved a masked boy and how Terra'd be different when he next saw him, I nodded finally understanding why he needed to go. Putting my serious mode aside, I grinned mischievously. "You know what! If you guys are going, then there's no way that you'll be leaving me out so…"

"So…?" He asked a bit worried about the answer he'd receive from me. Poor, poor Ven, he's suffered from my mischievousness a few times before, so he'd know if I was planning something like right now.

"Then that means…" I paused for dramatic effect. "I'm going with you!" I chirped.

"What? You sure?"

I crossed my arms. "Well, why not? You know me; I hate being left behind and besides…" My arms dropped to my sides and I perked up. "Who'd wanna miss out on an opportunity to see the worlds, huh? Not me that's what!" I said pointing to myself.

He sighed and agreed to let me go with him, knowing I'd follow him and beg him to take me with him no matter the cost. Little to no effort for me, huh? My lucky day, actually no, not really since Terra just decided to leave. I jumped up and cheered but in the middle of my little celebration, my heart-shaped pendant, the source of my transportation, smacked into my sensitive nose, making me stop and wince in pain. "Ouch…" I whimpered, rubbing the hit spot.

_'Your father's stuff, you stole one?'_

'Actually, I just put a spell on one of my regular pendants to send me wherever I want or where a friend is going. Plus, I don't have any Keyblade Armor or a Glider like them. Stuff like this comes in handy, you know!'

_'Basically, you are dragged through unusual portals unwillingly and are stuck with tolerating temporary dizziness, a headache soon after or even waking up on a new world?'_

'Yes!' Apparently, this is becoming normal for me.

_'Alright, whatever you say, Akemi.'_

I cleared my throat, gaining his attention. "Hey, I promise I'll stick by your side no matter what, okay?!"

Ven blinked. "Huh?"

I rolled my eyes. "No, I don't mean gluing myself to you. I meant that wherever you are, we'll be in each other's' hearts, right?" I closed my eyes and smiled sweetly at him.

He replied back with one of his own smiles. "Right!"

"Actually…" Then I abruptly tackle hugged him. "I wouldn't mind being glued to you at all if it means I can hug you, you know!" I chirped in a sing-song voice.

"Huh?" He repeated, confused with his cheeks glowing somewhat red.

I giggled, letting go of him and then looked away. "Just kidding!"

Turning to face Ven, I beamed at him and asked. "So… where are we going first?" Soon enough, our adventure would begin.

* * *

**- Aqua -**

Aqua ran down the stairs and saw Ventus in his Keyblade Armor standing there in the courtyard with Akemi. She called out to them. "Ven! Akemi!"

Unfortunately for her, it was too late, Ventus threw his Keyblade into the air, flying off on his Keyblade Glider and Akemi disappeared in a flash of light right after him. Master Eraqus walked up to her; both looked at Ven disappearing into the clear, blue sky and into a portal to the Lanes Between.

* * *

**AN: So, Akemi's going with Ventus, although she may wander off at times. And yes, magical teleporting pendant/necklace, because the only Keyblade Wielders confirmed to have and use a Keyblade Glider and armor is Terra, Ventus, Aqua and Master Xehanort, just sticking to canon and so I had to come up with something else. Okay, so I made a Keyblade (Luminous Aurora), don't maim me!**

**Conscience's name is now Mizake and about parents, I'll put small references here and there but not too much ('cause KH rarely ever cares about parents).**

**See you next chapter!**


	3. Short People Galore

**AN: Hey guys! I just wanted to let you know a few things before the story, the title? You'll get it soon enough. By the way, thank you for the reviews and I'm sorry I didn't update last week! Sorry, sorry! I'm compensating for it by posting two chapters this time. Now then,**

**On with the story!**

* * *

**Dwarf Woodlands**

In a flash of light, I was now standing on a ledge in the middle of somewhere. "Ugh, remind me why I thought using that pendant was a good idea?" I held my head. "Jeez, my head is aching hardcore."

'_Are you alright?'_

'No. Does it look like I'm alright?'

'_I was asleep, it's not my fault!'_

'I know it's not, Mizake.'

I looked at Ven who had walked up to me and being the curious boy he is, looked left and right. He looked down from the ledge in awe.

"Hm. What're you looking at?" I was getting a tad bit curious too.

He pointed at a group of 7 small men with pickaxes rested on their shoulders that were walking in a slightly crooked line.

"Oh." I said as the line of small men walked under the ledge. 'Ven is shorter than me; this place has short people…'

"Wow!" Ven said in surprise and excitement. He ran across to the other side to see the short men emerge from under the ledge, I followed behind.

'Hm.' I looked down at the small men. 'Short people.' I turned my head to Ven. 'Ven.' I looked backed down at the short men. 'Short people… oh forget it! Let's just check the place out.' I hurried off and before I'd passed by Ven who had just opened a treasure chest, I seized his arm and pulled him behind me. "Come on shorty, let's go after them!" I giggled.

Ven was a bit surprised when I pried him away from the chest. "H-hey!" He reached out with both arms to try and grab whatever was in the chest; he ended up being successful in grabbing the item.

"Is the chest really that important, shorty?"

"I guess so." He replied. "And why're you calling me that?"

I skidded to a stop. "Well…" I paused tapping a finger against my bottom lip. "…since we are in a world with short people. And since you're definitely shorter than me, how could I resist?"

"Am I really that short?"

I nodded. "Why? Should I compare heights later?" I asked as we jumped down.

"No thanks." Ven said then pointed at a chest. "There's another chest over there!"

"Short guys, first! Treasure chests can wait!" I ran to the mine with a pouting Ven still in tow but we were stopped in our tracks when strange cobalt blue blobs sprang from the ground.

"What are those? I've seen them before."

I summoned Luminous Aurora. "Really? Where'd you see 'em?"

"At that chest you dragged me away from."

"Okay. Anyways, I don't have any idea about what they're called but…" I pause, thinking of what to call them.

'_Unversed, Akemi! They're called Unversed, at least that's what I think.'_

"…I'm just gonna take a wild guess and say Unversed."

After we fought off the Unversed, I heard something open and turned to see Ven open another chest. "Ven!" I shouted.

I grasped his hand as soon as he'd grabbed the item and pulled him into the mine.

* * *

When we entered, the mine was shining with beautiful, sparkly gems and diamonds and all the small men we previously saw seemed to be busy at work. One of them took notice of us. "Huh? Who are you?"

"I'm Ventus. Call me Ven."

I waved. "My name's Akemi, nice to meet-!"

Another one interrupted angrily. "Diamond theives! Take cover, ya fools!"

"…you?" I said quietly, frowning, my hand drooped back down to my side. 'Well somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed!'

'_How rude! Calling you and Ven a bunch of diamond thieves, he could've called you something much better and nicer than that.'_

'Maybe it's a misunderstanding?'

In response, all the other short men scampered off deeper into the mine and hid behind rocks. One of them even ran into a wall and fell on his back, poor guy. Ven and I looked at each other then back at the sight before us.

'First world we're on and we screwed up on having a good first impression.'

'_It sucks to be you.'_

'You are me though.'

'_Damn.'_

'Ha! Outsmarted again by your own self!'

"I'm sorry. We didn't mean to frighten you." He smiled nervously.

"You didn't?" Another of the small men asked, they still looked angry.

Another one who, judging by him yawning every 2 seconds, seemed pretty drowsy asked another question. "You mean, you're not here for our diamonds?"

I crossed my arms. 'Why'd they think that? Are they paranoid?'

"That's not nice, treating me and my friend like we're some kind of bad guys. We're just trying to find our friend. His name is Terra." He gestured to his clothes. "He's dressed kinda like me, about yay tall-" Ven put one arm up to show how tall Terra is.

The grumpy one cut off Ven and yelled at us. "Sounds like a tall tale to me. Go on, both of you, git."

The sleepy one spoke. "We don't know any Terra."

Ven rubbed the back of his neck and sighed in irritation. "Please... could you come over here? We just want to talk."

The grumpy one turned to the others. "Don't fall for it! Stay where ya are!" He ordered.

Ven was almost about to burst. "All right. Then we'll do this the hard way!" He ran after the short men.

"Ven!" I called after him. "Jeez, don't run off, shorty!" I took off into a sprint.

* * *

Unversed came out and popped out from the ground, startling me. "Woah!" I bonked one on the head with my Keyblade, accidentally slicing it, it disappeared. I quickly swung the Keyblade at the other two and they too, disappeared. "Hmph! That'll teach you for frightening me!" I ran deeper into the mine to catch up with Ven.

After finding him, I just followed behind, I didn't want to interfere seeing as he's so keen on catching them. But I know standing around and doing nothing but tagging along is not fun, so I wandered off to find the rest.

"If I were one of them, where would I be hiding?" I looked around for any places people like them could hide. Then I came across a crate. "Aha! That's it!" My Keyblade appeared in my hand, I was about to break it open but stopped to think.

'I don't feel comfortable with busting a crate open when there's somebody inside it.'

'_You could just apologize after breaking the crate.'_

I sighed and in one swift move, the crate fell apart. The little man inside it looked up at me. "I'm so, so sorry, but I had to do it." I paused. "I don't mean to cause any harm, neither does Ven. You see, we're just looking for a friend named, Terra, he's gone somewhere and we'd like to find him."

'_You're rambling…'_

"You sure seem nice. I wish we could help ya." He said after thinking about what I said.

I nodded and smiled. "I wish you could but, it's alright." I led the dwarf who I now knew as Happy, back to the entrance where Dopey and Bashful were.

Once I'd gotten Happy back to the entrance, I went deeper into the mine again to look for the others. I heard a loud sneeze and saw a crate bounce up high into the air nearly hitting the ceiling. "D-did that crate just do that?"

'_Obviously another dwarf is in there.'_

"Welp, it's time to get you out of there." It took a while to bust it open, the crate kept jumping into the air but I still managed to get him out, there were Unversed everywhere though. "Are you okay?" I asked once I'd broken the crate.

"My hay fever! I gotta… I gotta… Hold on… Hold on… Careful… " I quickly took a handkerchief out of my pocket, handed it to him and stepped away before he let out a powerful sneeze.

"You must be Sneezy, better?" I asked before I led him back to Dopey, Bashful, Happy and Sleepy. Sneezy nodded in reply.

There's just two more dwarves to find, those two being Doc and Grumpy. "Where could one of them be?" I found another crate. "This is convenient." I tapped it, the crate moved. I spotted a pair of legs running under the crate. I chased after it and waited for the dwarf inside to stop moving; once it stopped I whacked it until it cracked open.

"Um, I'm terribly sorry about earlier. We're just desperately looking for our friend, Terra and we were hoping you'd know his whereabouts." I smiled.

"We haven't met any Merra- uh, Terra. And we'd know if a stranger was around." He said.

I sighed. "Oh well, it's alright. Are you okay? I hope that no Unversed did anything." I said. "So, you must be Doc, right? We should get going, the others will be waiting." Doc nodded and we walked to the entrance to meet up with the other dwarves.

* * *

"Come on. I'm telling you, Akemi and I aren't thieves." Ven said after bringing in a kicking and shouting Grumpy.

"Ha, that's what they all say. Well we're onto ya!" Grumpy said.

"Fine, I get it. You want us to leave, we'll leave." Ven sighed, finally giving up in trying to get anything out of them.

He turned around and began to walk away, I started walking behind him. He abruptly stopped almost resulting in me nearly bumping into him. "Oh, but - can you tell us where we can find some other people around here?"

"There's a castle beyond the chorus - I mean forest." Doc said.

"Got it. Well, thanks!" Ven turned around again and continued to walk. I trailed behind him again.

* * *

As soon as we got out we ran into more Unversed, which I'd already begun to expect and Ven was finally able to get the chest that I dragged him away from. After walking down the Mountain Trail a bit more and bashing tons of Unversed into the dirt, we encountered a small cottage.

Ven walked over to one of the cottage's windows and crouched down to look inside. "This must be were those little men live."

"It seems pretty obvious seeing as were just as tall as it, who else could live in a house like that unless they were as big as them?"

'_A midget?'_

'Mizake, dwarves and midget do have nearly or the exact same meaning.'

Suddenly we heard a scream somewhere; we looked around us for the source of the scream. "There!" Ven pointed to the forest in front of us.

* * *

Now that we were inside the forest, we heard sobbing and turned to see a girl sitting on the ground crying. Ven and I approached her, I was about to say something but he bet me to it. "What's wrong?" He asked.

"These horrible trees- they tried to grab me." The sobbing girl replied.

'_Possessed trees!'_

'Tch! Don't be silly.'

Ven outstretched a hand to her. "Ah, it's okay. You were probably just seeing things. It happens to all of us when were afraid."

I gave the ebony-haired girl a comforting smile. 'Oh Ven, you're so sweet.'

'_Are you swooning?'_

'No. Why would I be?'

'_You have a crush on Ventus, why wouldn't you be swooning right now?'_

Snow White took his hand and he helped her up. "Oh, thank you. I feel quite better now. I'm sure I'll get along, somehow. But… I do need a place to stay at night. Would you know anywhere I might?"

"Well, I saw a house just up ahead." Ven suggested. "Come on, we'll take you there." He offered and I nodded in agreement. "Oh, I'm Ventus. Ven for short." He added.

"I'm Akemi." I smiled sweetly at her.

"Thank you, Ven, Akemi. My name's Snow White." She smiled back.

"Pleased to meet you, Snow White." I said politely.

"Great. Let's get going!"

After those four words were said, Unversed appeared and the trees came to life. "WAH!" I shouted as I jumped into Ven's arms. I gulped at the sight of the tress. "Ven?"

"Yeah?" He replied, setting me down on my feet.

"Did you just trigger a bunch of Unversed and creepy trees?" I asked still a bit frightened by the trees, clutching to his arm.

"I don't know but, I'll go take care of the Unversed. You stay with Snow White." He ran off armed with his Keyblade to fight the Unversed.

I eyed the trees nervously. 'Oh great, I understand how Snow White must be feeling. These trees…'

'_Come on, Emi! Man up!'_

I let out a deep sigh. "Don't worry, Snow White. I'll protect you."

One of the trees we were about to run past by came to life. "Help me!" Snow White cried out. I stepped in front of her and a white light came from Luminous Aurora when I pointed it at the tree, the light made the tree revert back to its original form.

I turned to her. "Are you okay?" She nodded and I sighed in relief.

'_Akemi! Look out!'_

I spun around and slashed the Unversed about to attack me, it faded away. "Phew." I stood up straight again. 'Hey Mizake! How did you know an Unversed was going to attack me?'

'_I'm like the eyes in the back of your head.'_

'Mm. 'Kay then.' I thought casually.

After all that was taken care of, we made it to the forest's entrance and ran out of there.

* * *

We entered the cottage with no problems at all, the door wasn't locked.

'Who leaves doors open?'

'_The dwarves.'_

"I'm pretty sure you'll be safe here…" Ven turned to Snow White and I. "…but sit tight while I look around." I knew he meant I had to stay with Snow White so I nodded, then he ran out the door.

I led Snow White into the bedroom upstairs; it was the only other room. It wasn't long before she fell asleep but I decided I'd stay with her until Ven came back.

The door creaked open and I jumped and stealthily ran to the farthest bed and hid behind it. I sat there quietly and heard the familiar voice of Doc.

"Someone's asleep in here!"

I peeped over the bed only to find Snow White gone.

* * *

I crept up to the door and opened it a little bit, just enough for one of my eyes to see.

Ven had just walked in. "The coast is clear! Not a monster in sight- Huh?" He saw Snow White surrounded by the dwarves. The dwarves turned around with angry looks on their faces.

Grumpy spoke up again, this guy sure lives up to his name but he loves to hear his own lips flap, doesn't he? "Couldn't stay away, couldja? An' who invited you in, ya rotten thief?"

"Oh no, he's not a thief. He rescued me." Snow White said.

"You fussn't be mooled- uh, mustn't be fooled by him, princess." Doc told Snow White.

"Just go on an' git!" Grumpy said. Yeah, he does love hearing his lips flap.

"Please don't send him away." Snow White begged. "You see, he helped me when I was lost, and oh, so very frightened."

"Yeah! What she said!" I yelled as I jumped out from behind the bedroom door surprising everyone. "Oops, sorry!" I scratched the back of my head nervously.

'_Big enterance, much?'_

'Yes.' I thought as I walked up to Snow White alongside Ven.

"What happened?" He asked.

"Well, I was picking flowers by the wood, and there was a stranger there. He had a sword, but it was like a key- and then these monsters came and-" She explained.

'He? Sword like a key? That's Terra!'

"A sword like a key…" Ven crossed his arms and thought. "Terra!"

"Ya mean this stranger saw ya and set his horde of evil demons after ya?" Doc's not getting it, although, Snow White never did mention if he did that or not.

"Terra would never do that!" Ven said.

"Oh, of course. I'm sure he wouldn't. Not if he's someone who's your friend."

Doc spoke up again. "Princess! You trustn't be so musting- er, trusting."

"He's a-lyin'! Mark my words." Grumpy yelled.

"I'll prove it!" Ven ran out the door.

"Ven!" I followed him out.

* * *

I followed Ven into the forest only to bump into him. "What?" I backed away from him and looked up to see one giant Unversed that looked like a tree. "Eh?"

Both of us summoned our Keyblades but Ven was the only one who charged at it and began to attack, I stood there thinking of how to get rid of it easily.

Ven dodge rolled out away from a shockwave. "How do you beat this thing quickly?"

"Hold on! I'm thinking." I aimed my Keyblade at the tree and began shooting spells to see if anything would be extremely effective on the Unversed. It wasn't until I shot out fire that I remembered its weakness. "That's it!" I cartwheeled away from a poison puddle.

"What's it?"

I jumped to avoid another shockwave and shot out another ball of fire. "Trees are made of wood, right? This Unversed is a tree, that means its wood and fire burns wood. You get what I'm saying?"

"Yeah, I get it." Ven responded.

"Hold on. Do you even have fire?" I asked.

"Nope."

I sighed. "Fine, you just keep attacking it; I'll… handle all the magic." I pointed Luminous Aurora at the Unversed and shot out more fire, only to get poison shot at me in return. "GAH!" I yelped and dodge them in very hilarious ways; well to Mizake, they were hilarious. "NOPE! Don't hit me, don't hit me!"

'_I'm telling you! It looks hilarious!'_

'Yeah, yeah, I heard you the first time. And since when can you see me?'

'_I'm floating by you right now…'_

'Huh? You are?' I looked around and saw no sign of Mizake.

'_I can see you but you can't see me, strange, huh? I'm a ghost, ooh!'_

'What's up with you right now?'

'_Nothing is wrong.'_

'You'll never tell me, will you?'

'_Yes.'_

'I can live with that.'

After several more shots of fire at the Unversed and help from Ven, we managed to defeat the giant tree Unversed.

* * *

We ran out of the forest from the other side and found ourselves in a flower field. "Hey. Isn't this the place Snow White was in before she ran into the forest?"

Ven took a deep breath and yelled. "Terra!" He yelled. "Aww." He looked down; I placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled when he looked at me.

Both of us looked down and saw a rosy red apple roll up to us. Ven picked it up and we looked around for who it belonged to, we only saw an old lady wearing a black cloak walking by with a basket full of other apples.

"I think the apple belongs to her." I pointed out. "She's the only one besides us here and what's in the basket? Apples."

"Excuse me, ma'am? You dropped this." Ven said.

The woman stopped and turned around as we walked up to her. Ven handed the apple over to her.

"Oh, why thank you, my pets." The lady said as she took it. "To tell the truth, I really don't know what I would've done without that." She laughed. "Haven't I seen that sword before?"

"Terra has one. You know Terra?" Ven asked the old lady.

"Oh, yes, yes…" The lady began. "That ruffian pointed one of those at me, asking about some 'Xehanort'-" The old lady explained.

"Terra's looking for…" I shook my head in denial. 'What would Terra want with Master Xehanort?'

Ven looked at his Keyblade.

"My poor heart nearly stopped." The lady finished.

"That doesn't sound like him at all…" Ven asked the woman. "Ma'am, where did Terra go?"

"I'm sure I have no idea…" The woman responded. "Must you all menace a poor granny so?"

'Is she guilt-tripping us?'

"What? No, I was just…"

The old woman turned and walked away.

Ven stared at the grass-covered ground. "Terra, what did you do?"

* * *

**AN: Short People Galore, indeed. Akemi is definitely taller than Ventus, I'm guessing she's between Aqua and Ventus' height. By the way, I'll be answering reviews at the end of each chapter BUT only the ones with questions. **

** Sweet Cynthia – They never actually tell you how old Terra, Aqua or Ven are. I'm guessing about 14 – 15 for Ven.**


	4. Pink Fabric and White Sashes

**AN: Welcome back to another chapter! More stuff for you lovely people and Akemi is now at the Castle of Dreams, Cinderella's world, yay! You know, they could've made the ball livelier and they could've made Jaq more understandable… my only complaints but I'm not worrying too much about them.**

**On with the story!**

* * *

**Castle of Dreams**

I was hearing the sound of something rattling. 'Who's doing that?' I opened my eyes and I saw someone pacing back and forth. 'Ugh, this is very uncomfortable!' I sat up and realized the person pacing around was actually Ven. 'Huh? Why're we in a… cage?' I stared at my surroundings. 'And why is everything larger?'

'_So that was the source of the rattling!'_

'I know but what's most important is the fact we're in a cage.' I glanced at Ven who was still pacing back and forth. 'Uh… is he okay?'

"What is going on?" Ven finally spoke, stopping in the middle of the cage and crossing his arms.

I stood up; it was starting to feel uncomfortable sitting down there. "Um… I don't know?" I asked, extremely confused as to why he'd ask that.

He looked around, eyes wide and grabbed the bars of the cage. "Somebody tell me how I got so SMALL!" Ven yelled.

I smacked a hand over his mouth. "Pipe down!" Then I snickered. "Heh, if you weren't small enough." I froze and blushed. 'Oh jeez, that could be taken wrongly. Wait, its Ven though. He's too innocent to think of it like that. That's a relief, if it were anyone else, they wouldn't let me hear the end of it.'

Ven pulled my hand away and sighed deeply, then we heard the sound of a door opening, both of us looked up. Someone walked in, a girl actually and she picked up the cage, sending both Ven and I tumbling backwards.

"AH!" I yelped.

"Don't be afraid." The girl said as she opened the door to the cage. "Oh! How interesting… I've never seen mice like you two before."

"Mice?" Ven and I said in unison, both confused.

'So, we're in a mouse trap?'

'_Yes.'_

"Jaq, you better explain things to them." The girl said as she placed the mouse trap on the floor, none too gently, making it shake.

"WAH!" I exclaimed as I nearly tripped over, still keeping myself steady by suddenly grabbing hold of Ven almost pulling him down with me.

We both looked forwards to see a mouse the same height as Ven approach us.

"Now, now, now. Look a little guy. Break a wheezy." The mouse that was probably Jaq said or at least what I hear.

'Hey, Mizake!'

'_Don't worry, I just deciphered it. He said 'Now, now, now. Look, little guy. Take it easy.'_

'Thanks! Hey, how come you could decipher it but not me?'

'_It's a natural talent of yours, which you haven't fully mastered but as your conscience I have.'_

'That doesn't make sense…'

'_I know it doesn't.'_

"Nuttin' to worry 'bout. We like a you. Cinderelly like a you, too. She's a nice, very nice nice." Jaq said, looking at the girl.

'_Nothing to worry about. We like you. Cinderella likes you, too. She's nice, very nice.'_

"Come on now. Zugk-zugk." He said then led Ven and I out, introducing himself. "Name a Jaq."

'_My name is Jaq.'_

"I'm Ventus." Ven said. "Call me Ven."

"My name's Akemi, but feel free to call me Emi." I smiled. "And nice to meet you, Jaq!"

"Zugk-zugk, Ven-Ven, Em-Em. Need a southa? Ask a Jaq!"

'_Okay, Ven, Emi. Need something? Ask Jaq!'_

"Em-Em?" Ven smirked.

I blushed, embarrassed by the name. "Oh yeah? Ven-Ven sounds like a pet name a girlfriend would give you. Am I right?" I smirked back. "Huh, Ven-Ven?" I backed away and stifled a laugh, poking Ven's red cheek. "Hee hee… someone's as bright as a tomato."

'_Quit teasing him.'_

'Fine. It's fun to see how he reacts though.'

"Cinderella!" A voice called from another room.

Cinderella looked down but perked up a bit soon after. "Oh well, time to get to my chores. I'll see you in a little while Ven, Emi." Then she got up and walked away.

"Wow, I guess she's got her hands full." Ven spoke after Cinderella had left.

Jaq turned to us. "Yep, work, work, work! Stepmotha keep a Cinderelly busy all day!"

"She didn't seem to mind much, though." Ven pointed out.

"No, not a Cinderelly. She work a hard. She's gotta dream - big dream. Big dream gonna come true!"

Ven smiled. "That sounds like somebody we know."

Then I remembered what Terra had said back at the Land of Departure a while ago. _"Being a Keyblade Master is all I've dreamed about."_ I smiled too.

Ven and I turned to Jaq with hope in our eyes. "Hey, maybe you can help us find him! His name's Terra, have you seen him?"

"Eh, no no. Never saw Terra 'fore."

"Oh well, it was worth a shot." Ven said as he looked away.

I patted his back. "At least you tried."

"Come on. Follow me. Gotta see the house." Jaq said and walked away, I followed him leaving Ven behind.

"Ven! You coming or not?" I asked when I noticed he wasn't paying any attention.

"H-hey!" He ran after us, towards a mouse hole.

* * *

After we climbed up through the inner wall, we made it to Cinderella's room through another mouse hole and went across the room to climb up the window sill.

"What's that?" Ven asked when he saw a big castle in the distance.

"That's a palace – King's palace. Gonna be a big ball tonight." Jaq responded.

Ven asked another question. "Is Cinderella going?"

Jaq sighed. "I don't know…"

"I think she should, she'd look lovely in any dress." I said just before we heard the door open.

We turned around to see Cinderella, who smiled at us. "Hello, you three. Have you become friends already?"

All three of us nodded in reply.

"Oh, that's wonderful." She said as she set down a dress form and began to hum a wonderful tune, she was pretty happy right now than normal, which made me happy, if that makes sense because I'm happy because she's happy and nevermind…

"You sure look happy, Cinderella." Ven, being captain obvious, pointed out the obvious.

Cinderella turned to us. "Mm, I'm going to the royal ball tonight." She sighed happily. "I guess dreams really do come true."

"Of course! You deserve to have your dreams come true; you are very kind person, Cinderella." I said honestly.

A stern voice called out, startling her. "Cinderella!"

"My dress will have to wait." Cinderella looked at the door.

"Cinderella!"

"Cinderella!" Two other voices called in extremely nagging voices.

"All right, all right, I'm coming!" She walked to the door and left.

"Poor Cinderelly, she not go to the ball." Jaq said while Ven and I looked at the door to her room.

"Why not?" Ven asked.

"You see. They fix her. Work, work, work. She'll never get her dress done." Jaq turned to us. "Say, got an idea! Ven-Ven, Em-Em, help a Jaq?"

"Okay!" I shouted, eagerly as soon as Jaq finished speaking.

"With what?"

"Fix up Cinderelly's dress for the ball." Jaq exclaimed.

"But what do we need to get?" Ven crossed his arms and thought.

"Look around the house, lots a pretty, pretty things." Jaq suggested.

"Okay, let's do it!" Ven agreed. "We'll go find whatever we need. Jaq, you get things set up here."

"Zugk-zugk." Jaq said.

"Alright! Let's make Cinderella the best dress possible!" I cheered and hopped off the window sill while punching the air.

"Hey! Wait up, Akemi!" Ven jumped off the window sill and landed next to me.

"Ven-Ven, Em-Em, carefree Roos-a-fee!" Jaq warned.

"Roos-a-fee?" Ven asked confused.

'_Lucifer…'_

"He means Lucifer, Ven." I corrected him.

"Roos-a-fee a cat-cat, meanie, sneaky, jump achoo, bite achoo!"

'_Lucifer is a cat! He's mean… sneaky… He'll jump at you, bite at you!'_

'Oh… I thought he was fake-sneezing.'

'_Just to let you know, I'm only deciphering anything he says that you have trouble figuring out yourself.'_

"Gotcha." Ven said.

I grabbed his hand and pulled him to the mousehole. "C'mon Ven, we don't have all day!"

* * *

Once we made it to the living room from the mousehole, we searched around for anything we could use to make Cinderella's dress.

"What kind of things should we get?" Ven asked, looking around for anything.

I thought back to the color of the dress and thought of an idea. "Since the dress is pink and white, I suggest we get anything pink or white to match up the colors."

"Pink, huh?" He was smirking.

I glared at him. "And just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I like pink, at all! I prefer amber. So, wipe that smirk off your face before I do it for you, Ven." I stopped glaring and smirked. "Or should I say Ven-Ven, hm?"

His smirk disappeared and his face turned bright red again, I started cracking up.

After I calmed down, I was serious again. "No, seriously, the dress has pink and it'd look stupid if colors were mismatched unless you had a rainbow-colored dress in mind for Cinderella. Do you?"

"No." He shook his head.

I smiled sweetly. "And so it's settled, let's go find anything pink or white!" I marched off towards the couch; I'd spotted a white sash lying there earlier, so why not use it? When I reached the couch, I tugged at the sash until it floated to the floor. "I found something! Did you find anything?" I said while waving the sash in the air like a flag or banner.

Ven was still standing there, pointing to a roll of pink fabric next to him. "There's pink fabric over here, you were right next to it."

I slapped my forehead. "How did I not see that? I think I need glasses, wait. Glasses won't help very much at all with a situation like that." I stopped my rambling and noticed something on the top of a stack of boxes, something white. "Oh hey, another white sash. Ven, give me a boost!"

"Huh?" Ven turned to me after searching through a pile of things and noticed me running towards him. "Akemi, what are you doing?"

I skidded to a stop, hands latching onto his shoulders to stop me from crashing into him, I do not need that. "Jumping onto your hands or shoulders, whichever, so I can get up there."

'_Why did you stop? You could've accidentally kissed him by crashing into him.'_

'That could've result in broken noses, Mizake. And I don't want nor need to be kissed.'

'_You're in denial, Akemi. You know you want it!'_

'I still want that duct tape…'

"There's a ball of yarn over there, you could use it." Ven suggested, pushing me to the ball of yarn.

I blinked once, twice and sighed. "Ven, you should know by now that I'm terrible at keeping my balance. I end up needing you for support and overall, I could probably fall off it and get squished by a ball of yarn."

He smiled. "Just go do it; I'll be there to catch you."

I blushed. 'Okay, calm down Akemi. There's nothing to be blushing over, no swooning either. But he said he'd catch me…'

'_And then he'll catch you and you'll both ride off into the Lanes Between on his Keyblade Glider and you'll live happily, ever after! The End."_

'Shut up, this is not a fairy tale!'

"Really? I guess, that makes me feel more comfortable, but…" I sighed. "Fine, I'll do it." I rolled the ball over to the stack of boxes, jumped onto the ball, then on the top box and grab the white sash tied in a bow. "Got it!" I said as I jumped down with the sash in my hands.

Ven just stared.

"What? You told me to use it, so I used it! Simple as that."

He kept staring.

I let out a heavy sigh and grabbed him by his shoulders, shaking him. "Can we please just do everything quick enough? We still need to work on the dress!" I stopped shaking him. "And stop staring." I snapped my fingers in front of him then lightly slapped him across the face. "Hey! Pay attention."

Ven shook his head, again. "Huh? What?"

"Where else haven't we checked?" I asked as I placed the bow next to the sash and pink fabric.

Ven pointed to a drawer. "Up there."

"Oh yeah, I saw a hole there, we should check inside it for anything else."

Once we got up there, we found a white button. "That's convenient!" I said as I picked it up.

Ven poked his head inside the hole. "Are we going in here?"

"Yup! There might be something inside, wouldn't wanna miss it."

* * *

Inside the mousehole,

"There's Unversed here TOO?!" I was starting to get ticked off, where did they keep coming from?

Ven opened up a chest. "Yeah, they were in the other mouse hole, too."

"Oh yeah…" I giggled awkwardly, I walked into one corner and a group of weird, purple pod-shaped Unversed appeared. "What the-!" I jumped back.

"What are they?"

Curiosity got the best of me, so I hit it. "They're harmless? And since when are the Unversed harmless?" Something fell out of it and dropped right next to me. "Wedding Cake?"

"Chocolate Valentine?" Ven said as he picked up one of the small egg shaped capsules from another one. "What are these for?"

"Guess we'll find out later on, someone might know about these." I looked back at where they were, the strange Unversed were gone. "Huh? Where'd they go? Oh well." I jumped onto another platform and noticed a fork sticking out of the wall. 'What's with the fork?'

'_See for yourself.'_

'Okay.' I jumped onto it and it launched me into the air. "WHOA!"

Ven looked around. "Akemi? Where are you?"

"Yoo-hoo! Up here." I said in a sing-song voice. Ven looked up and I waved at him.

"How'd you get up there?" He asked.

I pointed down at the fork. "Jump on it. The fork will launch you into the air."

Once Ven made it up here, we went through the inner walls and onto another fork, leading us into…

* * *

…The Wardrobe Room. "A-are we on top of a wardrobe?" I asked as I looked down on what we we're standing on.

"What else would it look like?"

"Ah, nevermind." I ran on the ruler to the other side. "We definitely need this!" I said as I picked up the roll of pink thread.

"Is that all?" Ven called out from the Wardrobe's side.

I scratched the back of my forehead. "I guess so. Let's go and bring everything back to Jaq!"

* * *

"Still needs a pity, pity pearl." Jaq said once we went back to him.

Ven and I nodded. "Leave it to us."

* * *

When we went into the Living Room, I grabbed Ven's hand and dragged him behind one of the tables.

"Oh. There it is." Ven said.

"But it's right next to Lucifer…" I pointed out and glanced at the sleeping cat, and then I looked next to me to find Ven gone. "Huh?" I looked back to Lucifer and saw Ven tiptoeing to the pearl.

When Ven made it over there, he waved a hand in front of Lucifer's face and once he made sure the cat was asleep, took the blue pearl and turned around to tiptoe back to me. Unfortunately, Lucifer opened one eye and saw Ven, oh boy!

'Great, the darn cat's awake.'

'_Ventus can handle it, though.'_

'What's with you being formal and calling him Ventus?'

'_I choose to do that, that's why.'_

'I'm not even gonna bother…'

"Zook out! Roos-a-fee!" Jaq yelled and threw a ball of yarn at Lucifer's head. "Flurry! Flurry, Ven-Ven!" Jaq launched more yarn balls at Lucifer.

Ven ran to the mousehole while Lucifer kept dodging all the balls of yarn aimed for him, the cat bumped into the drawer, knocking Jaq off it.

"Ooh, that hurt." Jaq said.

Ven ran to Jaq, stopping Lucifer from mauling the mouse in the process with his Keyblade. "Time to play, cat!"

"Ven-Ven!" Jaq said happily.

"Take the pearl, Jaq. I'll hold him off. Run!" Ven said handing the pearl to Jaq.

"Zugk-zugk!" Jaq said as he grabbed the pearl and ran to me.

'Should we be standing here?'

'_You're gonna take care of Jaq while Ventus goes and kicks that cat's butt.'_

'Okay…?' I looked back at the battle before me. 'You know, I'm getting a kick out of seeing Ven fight a cat.'

'_I know, it's very amusing, isn't it?'_

I nodded. 'Yup, very amusing indeed…'

'_Though it is quite peculiar…'_

'Since when did you use fancy words?'

'_Since the day you were born.'_

I looked down at Jaq standing beside me and back at the fight. 'I'm developing a strong dislike for cats. I blame Lucifer…'

'_Just because of one cat, that's very preposterous.'_

'Hey, ease up on the fancy talk, Mizake! I'm not from a rich family nor am I royalty.' I chuckled to myself. 'Is Ven riding on Lucifer's back?'

'_Yes, he is.'_

'Ven's on fire…'

'_Abilities, I guess.'_

'How is he not burning? And how come I don't get cool things like that?'

'_You do get them; you've just never used them in a while. Remember?'_

'Oh yeah, it made things to easy, that's why. I like challenges…'

Lucifer ran off, Jaq and I walked up to him. "Oh, ras a big "thank you."

"No thanks needed. You saved me before, so I saved you." Ven said. "That's what friends do, right?"

"Zugk-zugk, Ven-Ven, Jaq are good friend." Jaq smiled.

"Now, let's get that dress finished." Ven ran to the mousehole with me and Jaq trailed close behind.

* * *

Cinderella walked up to the window of her room and gazed out at the castle. "Oh, well… What's a royal ball?" She sat down on the chair by the window. "After all, I suppose it would be frightfully dull and boring… and completely… completely wonderful."

"Cinderella!" Ven called out to turn her attention.

She turned to face us and saw Ven and Jaq present the dress to her.

"Tah-dah!" I yelled out cheerfully. "It's your dress! We worked on it while you were busy!"

"Yes. It's a present from us."

Jaq grinned.

"Now you have a dress for the ball." Ven continued.

Cinderella laid her hands out on the floor allowing us to step onto them. When we did, she lifted us up to face her. "Why, it's… it's such a surprise…"

"Flurry, flurry! Time to go, Cinderelly!"

"Oh, thank you." This was the most happiest we've seen her, it made me smile.

'Now, her dream can come true!'

* * *

Cinderella had just left for the ball, all three of us, that being Jaq, Ven and I were sitting down on the window sill now.

"Jaq-Jaq hope a Cinderelly's dream come true." Jaq said.

"Me too." I gazed back at the stars. 'It would be fun to have Terra and Aqua here too…' I let out an inaudible sigh.

Jaq turned to us. "What's a Ven-Ven and Em-Em dream?"

Ven glanced at Jaq. "I wonder… Funny... I'd never really thought about it – at least until you asked me." His Keyblade appeared in his hand. "My dream is to become a Keyblade Master."

"Well, you're not the only one." I chirped, repeating the same words Aqua once said. Ven chuckled and grinned.

'_Speaking of dreams, your sister's a dreamer, right?'_

'Yeah, she's got tons of dreams. Every day back at Radiant Garden, she'd run up to me and tell me about her daily dream.'

'_She dreams 365 dreams per year?'_

'Yup, that's right. Gee, I wonder if we could visit Radiant Garden…'

'_Who knows? We might, it depends.'_

"Hope a Ven-Ven and Em-Em dreams come true, too." Jaq said.

"I just need to keep on believing, right?" Ven smiled at me and Jaq.

"Zugk-zugk!"

I nodded and smiled. "Of course, sometimes believing is the only thing you need." I sighed blissfully. 'Just like I told sis…'

We all looked back at the castle and the star-filled sky.

* * *

**AN: And it's done! Yes, Akemi just stood there, trying to put logic in things and left Ventus to kick Lucifer's ass and there's a tiny reference to the Firestorm command style.**** Oh my god! It was weird having to purposely misspell things for the sake of Jaq (Mizake's like the subtitles)! I originally planned for Akemi to go girly-mode and start obsessing over how the dress would look in their little scavenger hunt. Man, this is also the longest chapter to date! Excuse my rambling…**

**No questions? Here's a fun fact: Akemi was originally intended to go solo on her adventure but then I'd have to make new storylines for each world and I really didn't want to do that, plus where would the Ventus x OC (Akemi) go?**


End file.
